Genre: Action
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

Data miners have uncovered that this sequel to 2017's "Breath of the Wild" was re-implemented in the same engine which powers other Nintendo titles, such as "Splatoon 3". This is surprising considering how much of the game is recycled from that original title. It explains how this release is able to hold a more consistent framerate. Additionally, it uses AMD's "FSR 1.0" to upscale to 720p and 1080p in handheld and docked modes, respectively. In terms of art direction, there isn't much to say as almost the entire game world was lifted from the first title, and this sequel retains the minimalistic user interface and other design cues. The game is pretty rough looking by PlayStation 5 or PC standards, but for a Switch title it gets the job done.

Everything said about the aural direction in the first game applies here: staccato piano motifs punctuate long periods of silence. There is more British Isles-style voice acting, but it's reserved for major cut-scenes. Almost all of the title's sound effects are also lifted directly from the original title.

This release plays exactly like the previous game, but with the addition of some very light "Ark"-esque crafting, where various objects can be hooked together to build structures or vehicles. This is accomplished by toggling an alternative mode via the "L" button, then moving the camera to pick up, rotate, and "glue" pieces of geometry together. Only a tiny subset of objects in the game world can be manipulated in this way, and the title's design makes it obvious to which objects this new mechanic applies.

As is universally the case with "The Legend of Zelda" titles, this latest entry has a poor feedback loop: there is a lot of world geometry plus myriad real-time physics systems, but not enough of a "hook" to make any of it feel worthwhile since there is no real concept of "loot" or character levels to reward the player for his efforts. This isn't helped by the fact that the game feels like more of an expansion pack than a brand new title: at least the original game had the novelty of running on brand new hardware to carry it along. This sequel isn't a bad game, but it's telling when by a mile the most engaging part of the experience is the non open-world opening two hours.